Jim Wells County Extension News 2016 STAKEHOLDERS REPORT Second Edition 4-H Round Up is More Than You Ever Imagined 4-H Round Up is an event or series of events that begin at the local club level and escalate all the way up to the national level. In between, county, district and state competitions provide rungs in the ladder of success for our 4-H members to climb and make it to the top. 4-H Round Up provides members with an opportunity to compete public speaking, judging contests, talent reviews, fashion reviews, food shows and various other competitions. During the month of April, many of the district competitions are held and 4-H members have an opportunity to complete at this time. Below are some of the results from these events. Agriculture Product Identification: Avery Mata and Adam Tijerina, 3rd place Junior Team; Ryan Kalinec, Ryan Lopez, Kyleigh Carr, and Taylor Gunn 1st Place Senior Team; David Gebert, Buddy Clegg, and Logan McBryde, 3rd place Senior Team; Emily Kalinec, 1st HP Intermediate; Trevor Martinez, 3rd HP Intermediate; Ryan Lopez, 1st HP Senior. Educational Presentation: Ashlyn Hesseltine, 1st Place Senior Beef; Avery Mata and Esteban Pena, 3rd Place Jr. Open; Adam Tijerina, 2nd Place Jr. Open; Elise Hesseltine, 1st Place Open Ag & Natural Re - sources; Kyleigh Carr, 1st Place Open FCS and 3rd Place Overall Senior Sweepstakes. Range and Pasture Plant Identification: Emily Kalinec - High Point Intermediate. Ryan Kalinec, High Point Senior. Elise Hesseltine, 3rd High Point Senior Share the Fun: Taylor Gunn, 2nd place Senior Musical; Chelsea Munoz, 3rd place Jr. Vocal; Trevor Martinez, 3rd place Intermediate Vocal. Livestock Judging: Jim Wells County 4-H ers competed in the District 12 4-H Livestock Judging Contest in Fredericksburg on April 23. Members competing were: Makayla Rodriguez, Trevor Martinez, Chris Rodri-guez, Adam Tijerina, Ryan Lopez, Chelsea Munoz and Buddy Clegg. Makayla was 2nd High Point Individual in the swine division and Chelsea was 3rd High Point in the Sheep and Goat Division.
Shooting Sports is a Popular Project Jim Wells County 4-H members have been actively practicing their marksmanship skills in both rifle and archery competitions. Mr. Eddie Garcia, certified coach in small bore rifles, coaches approximately 12 4-H members using 22 caliber rifles. Depending on their age, the 4-H members will shoot three rounds in the prone, kneeling and standing positions. Mr. Cullen Wright is a certified archery coach and he too has been working with a dozen of kids and practicing their marksmanship skills with a bow and arrow. Both groups have been competing in invitational and district matches. At the District 12 4-H Rifle Match held in Benavides in April, Avery Garcia, Esteban Pena and Jacob Gonzalez placed 3rd in the junior division. Also participating were Tres Lomas, Ethan Garcia, and Joncarlo Lomas. The team is coached by Head Coach Eddie Garcia and Assistant Coaches Richard Griffin and Horacio Lomas. The Jim Wells County Shooting Sports Program is on target for greater things in the future. Greening Up the Place With Horticulture Interest in home gardens and home horticulture has been on the rise in all parts of the country. Jim Wells County is no exception to this trend. Besides the benefit of the produce that can be harvested from home gardens, these projects can be a great educational tool for our youth and a great distraction for our adults. For some, home gardening can be a hobby or a way of life. With the help of the Jim Wells County Youth Board, Ms Barbie Wymore, County Extension Agent for 4-H and Youth Development initiated a Youth Horticulture Project and culminated it with a show to show case the products and results of the kid s efforts. Entries for the show were submitted and judged in May. A total of 19 entries were received from 9 4-H members. Local producers and USDA personnel served as judges for the event. Grand Champion Honors went to Derek Trevino and Reserve Grand Champion Honors to Rachel Gallagher. Congratulations!!!
Science of Agriculture Making our youth aware of where their food and cloths come from continues to be a major effort across Texas and the United States as a whole. As young people continue to become disjointed and further away from the farm, most will never have an opportunity to see where and how the majority of their food is produced. This year was the 11 th anniversary of the Jim Wells County Ag Fair. This annual event is hosted in partnership with the local offices of the Texas Farm Bureau and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Over 900 4 th grade students and their teachers participated in this year s two-day event which was held on May 18 & 19. The students participated in sessions which taught them about beef and dairy production, sheep and goats, and poultry. They had an opportuni ty to learn about feed grains and cotton and also got to see a model gin separating the fiber from the cotton seed. In a wildlife session, the students learned to identify characteristics of predators and prey and also learned the characteristics of venomous vs non-venomous snakes. Safety with wildlife a also a focus during this session. The Nueces River Authority provided a table top model which is a scaled down version of the Nueces River Watershed. Participants learned how upstream pollution can very quickly become a major issue downstream and into our local bays and estuaries. Local farmers, ranchers, biologists and industry personnel come together each year to conduct this very important agriculture awareness program. Survey responses from the teachers are always very positive and each year they look forward to participating with their students. Area farmers and ranchers take a vested interest in this program and are actively involved in promoting agriculture to our younger generation. They provide their time and expertise as presenters and they also provide live animal exhibits and equipment to display. Jim Wells County 4-H members also enjoy coming out to the event to serve as group leaders throughout the day. This year, they were up brigh t and early to help host the morning show on Corpus Christi s Channel 6 KRIS TV. This was a great opportunity to showcase some of the activities being done at Ag Fair and also to promote 4-H.
South Texas Beef 706 It is important for beef cattle producers to understand the quality of the product that they are producing. This affects not only their profitability at the time of sale, but ultimately the profitability of the industry as a whole. For the first time ever, the Beef 706 program is being brought to south Texas. This program is designed to teach beef cattle producers how feeder cattle are viewed at the market and how their value is determined. The initial program was held at Gulf Coast Livestock Auction in Alice on Monday, May 23 rd. Thirty six beef cattle producers signed up for the program and learned about feeder cattle selection and marketing. Thru a mock auction, participant groups purchased a calf to follow thru the feed yard and carcass processing. At the end of a five month feeding program, in late October, the participants will then have an opportunity to tour Kane Processors in Corpus Christi. Kane Processors will harvest the steers and then the participants will evaluate the carcasses at the meats lab at Texas A&M University in Kingsville. The initial program was well received and the participants are excited about the program. A blog has been established in order to provide updates on the cattle and to answer any questions which the participants may have. http://stx706.blogspot.com This program is co-sponsored by the Texas Beef Council and Texas A&M University in Kingsville. Neighboring County Extension Agents in Nueces, San Patricio, Duval and Kleberg/Kenedy Counties are also assisting with this program. Dr. Dan Hale, Extension Meat Science Specialist in College Station and Dr. Joe Paschal, Extension Livestock Specialist in Corpus Christi are responsible for the major educational components and industry partners making this program successful. Thank you!!!
Educational Contacts Educational contacts are an important measure for accountability in Extension educational programs. Planning meetings, trainings and other coordinative efforts are ongoing throughout the year to ensure the success of our local Extension educational efforts. Likewise, volunteers contribute greatly and their time multiplies the efforts of local Extension Faculty. Below is a chart listing the educational contacts reported for the first half (January 1 June 30) of 2016. Total Contacts 3,060 Ethnicity White 1,018 Black 4 Hispanic 2,037 Asian 1 Age Adult 863 Youth 2,197 Gender Male 1,464 Female 1,546
Jim Wells County Extension Faculty Rogelio Mercado County Extension Agent Agriculture and Natural Resources Barbie Wymore County Extension Agent 4-H & Youth Development Contact Us: 200 North Almond P.O. Box 1370 Alice, Texas 78333 361-668-5705 ph 361-668-2802 fx Elaine Montemayor-Gonzalez Program Specialist Healthy South Texas
Extension programs serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, religion, disability or nati onal origin. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating.